Wow. I was amazed to read this. Thanks Joe for sending it... GE (and an obviously loopy Congressman from Ohio seated in the
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense hasofficially canceled a contract for a General Electric-developed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Both the Houseand the Senate have blocked funding for it, arguing that one engine for one plane is enough.
Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney won the original contract for one engine, while a GE-Rolls Royce alliance has been developing a second engine. The latter has become a symbol of government waste, and the White House has promised to veto any bill that funded the alternate program.
Yet the engine simply won’t die.
The House Armed Services Committee released its spending outlines for the coming fiscal year Tuesday, and the second engine is right back in.
yeah, its amazing they keep talking about the damn budget problems yet they pour millions into a dead end engine. I remember reading somewhere that in all intents and purposes there was a competition for an engine, both companies who proposed a plane had to choose what engine to put in it and both companies decided on the F135 (not the F136 that wont die) so wheres no competition? if it was so much better why did Lockheed not put it in their bird? why did the competitor to the 35 in the competition not (if i am not mistaken both chose the F135. dumbasses!, sorry for the language :)
ReplyDeletebtw, i like how you struck "leader", IMHO we have alot of people governing the country, but no real "LEADERS"!
ReplyDeleteVampire Engine, I love that :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a great fan of GE-engines, the robustness that they had compared to the P&W engines made them superior IMHO. As I understand it however the latest P&W engines are as good as their GE counterpart so maybe my experience about this is dated.
And all the money invested in to a development of a second engine will be vary hard to get back, you will probably get better performance out of both engines in terms of thrust and TBO due to the competition, but I don't believe that there will be an economical gain in the end.
Best Regards
/RAF